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Don't think I saw this asked, so were there any prisoners who received special treatment while in jail? I am again thinking of movies/tv like Goodfellas and 'The Wire' where bigshot criminals are able to enjoy a good quality of life while in the can and get special treatment from guards. If such a dynamic exists in real life, how does it play out?
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there used to be alot of prisoners treated special, but that got cleaned up in Illinois in the mid/late 90s. In May of 1996, there was a huge news story that exposed the state of Illinois prisons after Bill Curtis, of A&E fame, brought to light videos of the prison system and specifically
Richard Speck. The prison system was run by the inmates and the guards just let whatever happen as long as they were safe. After this video and a flurry of filed lawsuits, the IDOC cleaned up its act. They put in many more fences and gates, established better controls to monitor the prison pop, it kept too many prisoners from congregating, and it ended special treatment. The minimum security prison, Vienna, was infamous for having gang leader
Larry Hoover, chief of the gangster disciples, run the prison. By the time of my incarceration, this type of thing had been slowed down a ton as the guards took the prison system over. The interstate trading of gang chiefs helped end the system of a few guys dominating the system.
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Did you feel your lawyer worked his hardest for you/got you the best deal possible?
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Yes. He did everything possible. I did consult other lawyers when things got bad and they all came to the same agreement. My lawyer has always felt bad about my case and thinks it is one the biggest 'raw' deals he has seen. Oh well..